Method of making wire fabrics



Dec. 2, 1.930. w. +1. SOMMER 1,733,948

' Inrrlob or MAKING WIRE mamas Filed Nov. 4, 1929 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 42 1 I x 5 l I I I i 47 1: i :w

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limo ormx1ue-- WIRE FABRICS v Filed Nov. 4, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 q I my}:

.o nu E 5 Lu 0 O Jwomtoo Patented Dec. 2, 1930 PATENT OFFICE wnmum H. column, or mom, rumors mi'rnon or mme wmn ranmcs v g Application filed November 4, 1929. Serial No. 404,782..

This invention has reference to a method of making welded fabrics; i. e.wire fabrics composed of longitudinal wires and cross or transverse wires which are welded together 5 where the cross or transverse wires intersect the longitudinal Wires. Such fabrics are more particularly used for reinforcing concrete material.

The invention has for its primary object a method of making wire fabrics, wherein the welding or other connections between the cross and the marginal longitudinal wires, occur at points inwardly of the ends of the cross wires, so that the ends of the cross wires 1. materially project beyond the marginal 1ongitudinal wires, followed by severance of the projecting ends of the cross wires to'cause the. cross and longitudinal wires to lie flush with each other, whereby to assure an-eifec- 0 tive weld of the cross and marginal longitudinal wires, by such excessive projection of the ends of the cross wires beyond the marginal longitudinal wires.

Other and variousobjects will more fully appear in the following description.

That the invention may be more fully understood reference is had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of the description, illustrating a preferred embodiment of an aplparatusfor practicing the invention, in

whic

, .Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view thru a fabric welding machine, certain of the frame parts being shown in dotted lines;

i Fig. 2 s a front elevation of the cutter mechanism and supports therefor, partly broken awa also the fabric before and after the projecting ends of the transverse wires have been cut off; a

Fig. 3 is a plan view of what is shown in Fig. 2, and

. Fig. 4 is a-perspective view of a sectlon of the completed fabric prior to and after the projecting ends of the transverse wires have beencut o8. a

Like characters of reference denote corresponding parts thruout the figures.

7 Referring to the drawings, the longitudinal wires are designated a and the transverse wires 6. It will be understood that thereare I0 fed a plurality of such wires (1, which are preferably spaced equidistant from each other at whatever distances 'are desired and practical in the finished fabric, as for instance two inches, four inches, etc. The wires b are fed at suitable intervals to be spaced from each other at whatever distances are desired and such wires 6 welded to each of the wires awhere they cross and intersectsuch' wires.

The transverse 'wires 6 are fed across the longitudinal wires a to a point, before severing a transverse, wire length from the feed wire, so that ends c'projeet a material dis tance outwardly beyond the outside or mar-' ginal longitudinal wires a, to enable an effective weld to be had. These projecting ends, if permitted to "remain, are ob'ection- 'ablewhen handlin the fabric, w ich is sometimes furnishe in rolls, also in flats,- depending on how to'be used; Such project ing ends 0 become bent, thru handlin and prevent the fabric .from lying flat m or. against material to be reinforced and 'neces- 1 sitates straightening, which is costly and laborious; Fiirthermore, these pro ecting 715 ends lacerate the bodies of ersons handling thefabric, doing consi' erable dama which'is dangerous, asiw'ell as tearing t e garments of the handlers; also these projectmg ends a (get caught in various objects, retarding an delaying the work, resulting not 'only in bending such ends requiring straight- .ening, but frequently causing a tearing afpart A or separation of the transverse wires om the longitudinal wires, making handling inconvenient and re airing the strai htenmg. out of the wires an fabric before p acement for reinforcing. Itis the, practice to weld only sufliciently tomake a union between the longitudinal and transverse'wires, such as to hold the fabric together and it is, therefore, obvious that any undue strain, such as could be exerted on the projecting ends will bend the ends and require straightening or tear the fabric apart and weaken reinforcement work at points of such unequal placement of the elements constituting the fabric.

It has not been found practicable to feed only a suflicient amount of transverse wire length 6 to reach from one outside or marginal longitudinal wire a to the othersuch outside or'marginal wire a. In high speed machines of this character, it is difficult to regulate the transverse wire lengths b so that each successive feeding of a wire will be of the same length, as the precediugwire.

They may be shorter or longer, due to irregu larities in the wire or causes resulting from imperfect operations of the feeding mechanism,'which, while such operations can be checked from time to time, it is not possible to prevent errors from creeping into such operations. On the other hand, were it possible to feed regular and corresponding lengths of transverse wires 6 across the series of longitudinal wires a, with the ends of each wire 6 flush with the marginal wires a, the fusing of the ends of the cross wires 6 with the bodies of the marginal wires a would be faulty and a good union practically impossible, and it is, therefore, desirable to provide longer lengths of cross wires 6 than are necessary and subsequently sever the projecting ends 0 flush with the marginal wires a. In order to obtain a good weld or union at the intersections of the wires 6 with the marginal wires a, there should be an equal amount or area of'contact of the respective welding dies on each of the wires or and b. If this is not obtained there is a tendency for one wire to get a less amount of heat than the other wire, resulting in one wire fusing more rapidly than the other wire and due to this. uneven temperature of the two wires there will be a tendency for the .unmelted portion of one wire to indent itself into the other wire, tripping the control switch without the two wires fusing together.

Referring more particularly to a machine for producing the fabric and to the cutter mechanism for severing the projecting ends a from the cross-wires b, the pull out drum or clamp for the wires a is designated 1, shown only diagrammatically by'dotted lines and carried by a shaft 2 journaled in side frames The wires 6 are fed rolls, one between each of the wires a. The

position of feeding in the wire 6 is designated at A and from such position the same are fed by the rolls 5 to the welded position shown. The shaft 4 is journaled in bearings don the face of castings 7, which are preferably copper. There is one casting for each of the wires a and each is provided with a vertically disposed guide 8 through which a wire a is fed or pulled by the pull out clamp or drum 1. Said castings are supported or carried by a bed frame 9, preferably of cast iron, and said bed is supported by the side frames 3 to which it is secured. The wires a pass up and in front of die members 10, one secured to each of the bearing members 6. In operation, the shifting rolls 5 move the wires 1) from the feeding in position A to the welding position in front of the die members 10.

Arranged to cooperate with each die member 10 is a reciprocal bar 11, movable in journals 12 supported by and insulated from the respective castings 7 and to the acting end of each bar is connected a die member 13 adapted to coact with the intersections of wires a and b and with a die member 10 during a welding operation. Slidably connected at 14 with each bar 11 is a rod 15 and each rod is pivotally connected with a strap 16 connected to and insulated from a rocker shaft 17 and said shaft is journaled in the side frame 3 and connected with means, not shown,

' for alternately rocking said shaft in opposite wires (1 and b and grip the same with the dies ing the dies 13 to move slightly further forward with the welding of said wires. The bars 11, during their forward and return movements, coact with switch controlling means, aseI shall now describe.

There is a switch bracket 19 connected to and insulated from each bearin 12 and said brackets support suitable switc es and controlling means, as follows:20 is a pivotal- 1y supported switch arm having a finger 21,

and said arm is arranged for. contact with contact rods 22 and 23, the former being held stationar while the latter is normally spring pressed orwardly, altho such means is not shown. Coacting with 'said switch arm 20 is a pivot'ally supported bell-crank arm 24, normally held'm locking position against the arm 20 by means of a spring 25. And adapted to act against said bell-crank arm 24 is a pivotally supported lever arm 26. Therejs also provlded a-pivotally supported operatindividual block; The primary windin ,is

preferably two coils 46, one on each si e of the secondary winding, and saidsecondary and primary windings are embraced by the 5 ing arm 27 having a finger 28 adapted 'toengage with the finger 21 on the switch arm 20 and said arm 27 is normally held in operative laminated iron core 47. By reference to Fig. 1, it will be seen that circuit L1 connects v the contact member. 32 with one of-the coils of the primary winding-with a jumper be 1 position b a spring 28'.. This latter arm 27 I 7 1s 'adapte to be operated upon by ,a lug 29 explained as the wel carried by the bar 11, which said In is also adapted to enga with-the arm 26. he operation of the swltch arms 20, in their relation to the rods 22 and 23, the controlling means, consisting of the arms 24, 26 and 27and the lugs 29 on the bars 11 will be more clearly ding operation is described.

Other switch means and control therefor, comprises a series of switch brackets 30, one to correspond to each bracket 19; the former being positioned forward of the bed 9-.and the eing positioned in the rear thereof and latter supported thereby. Contact members 31 and 32 are connected with the bracket 30. The

'at the time of placing t lution of a spring 35. One end of said bell-crank arm 34 is caused to ride on a' cam member 36 carried by a rotating shaft 37 journaled in suitable bearings, not shown, on the side frames 3. This shaft maybe rotated in any suitable manner, and thecams 36 thereon of whichthere is one corresponding to each ar 11, and said shaft 37, the shaft 4 and the shaft 17 are operated in timed relation to'each other to accomplish the closing of electrical circuits e ,wires 6 in position to be welded tothe a, and the movement of the bars 11 into weldin The cams 36, during a partial revoold the arms 34 so as to-separate the contact .33 from the contacts 31'and 32 and during the remainder of the rotation of said cams 36, the arms 34 are released, permitting the springs to act to force the contact 33 'mto engagement with the contacts 31 and 32.

There is provided a transformer which I. have designated es, for each weldin unit, comprising thebars 11 and their dies 13, and the 'coacting die members 10. Each transformer includes a secondary'windin 39,1one terminal 40 of which is connecte to a rigid binding post 41 on a casting 7-,- and-the other terminal 42 of which is con-' nected to a flexible lead 43, in turn connected to a 'postor lug 44 on a barll'." The several secondary windings may be\supported bya filler block 45, of insulating material, or

each such may be supported by an cross-wires a and b, it will be obvious,,withs'ition for such I tween the two said coils and thecircuit L2:

is'connected' with the other of 'such coilsq With the switch 20in contact with thejrods 22 and 23,. and the contact. 33-engagingthe I contacts 31 and 32, while at the same time the dies 13-and 10 are in contact -.with

out further detailed description how the.

. electrical current flows thru the'circuit L1 from the rod 23 to the rod 22," thence thru the contacts- 31, 33 and 32 to and thru the trans formers and to and thru the dies 10 and 13 heatin' the cross-wires a and b and causing a wel g action between the two, and the current flowing to and thru the circuit'L2.

The cutter mechanism and support therei for are best seen in Figs. 2and' 3, while in Fig. 1 the means for o' crating the cutter mechanism is shown. I ave elected, in the form shown, to locate the cutter mechanism I between the welding dies 10 and. 13 and the H as a pull out drum or clamp 1' and to operate the cutter mechanism from the shaft 2; but it isto be understood that the severing. of

the proecting ends 0 of the crosswires b may ta e place at some other convenient point, as for instance, after the fabric leaves the pull out drum or clamp 1 and 0 rates the. cutter mechanism from-the sha v2 or power transmitting means of the ma:

other chine. p i The cutters include the sets of coacting resecured to and supported by the. si frames 3. Theseshafts aregeared together opposite directions and one of said'shafts 49 18 provided with a'sprocket pinion 52 engaged and driven by a sprocket chain 53 receiving its power from a sprocket wheel 54 carried-by and receiving its power fro tatable cutting discs 48,48, which are'carried b and rotate with the pair of parallel spaced s afts 49, 49, journaled-in suitable'bearings f "u'oby the gears 51, .51, whereby they rotate in i the shaft 2. One set of, cutters 48-, 48 have Preferably with the shafts:49,' 49, seeFig's.* 2 and 3, whereby they may befalilgusted longitudinally: on the shafts 49, 49 to apt the; cutter mechanism to varying widthsof the fabric and varying lengths of cross-wires b and when adjustedall cutters are-fixed inpoqtion' b means of set screws 55. In association wit the slidable and adjustable cutters is a-slidable hearing I 56, adapted to. be held in adjustedv pos tions b means of a collar 57 and set screw 58. v e shafts .49, 49 are sup in a suitable position. aboie the. dies lee;

spline and groove connection.

10 and 13, see Fig. 1, and it is between these shafts that the fabric is led from the welding instrumentalities up and over the pull out drum or clamp, as shown. The cutters being adjusted to the width of the fabric being manufactured and the cross-wires 6 being attached, by welding, to the longitudinal wires a, leaving exposed the projecting ends 0, see Fig. 2, such projecting ends o of they respective and successive cross-wires b, as they are brought into coincidence with the pairs of, cutters 48, 48, are progressively and successively severed from the cross-wires b flush with the outside or marginal wires a. The original and subsequent conditions of the cross-wires b are best seen in Fig. 2, wherein is illustrated the welding of crosswires with projecting ends 0 and such projecting-ends severed from the length of such cross wires leaving the marginal edges of the fabric smooth and free of any projections.

In the operation of the machine, assuming that a transverse wire I) has been moved into position cross-wise of the wires a and in front of the die members 10, the oscillatory shaft 17 will move thebars 11 forwardly so as to bring their die members 13 into engagement with the cross-wire a and b and together with the dies 10 hold such wires therebetween ready for the welding action. The forward movement of the bars 11 will remove the lugs 29 thereon releasing the operating levers 27 so that the springs 28' will move said levers 27 from engaging position with the switch lever 20 and this initial forward movement of the bars 11 will position the lugs 29 thereonimmediately in front of but not quite engaging the levers 26, while at the same time the springs 18 will be compressed. In this position of the parts withthe lever 24 holding the switch arm 20 against the rods 22 and 23, electrical current can only flow through the circuit L1 and to the die members for welding; providing a contact is made between the members 33, 31 and 32, and it is at this time that the shaft 37 moves the cam members 36 from off of the arms 34 to permit the springs 35 to act to cause a contact between the members 33, 31'and 32 to close the circuit L1 to the transformers. Immediately on the current passing thru the connected wires a and b the metal is melted causing a welding action 2 and at the same time as the metal melts the springs 18 which have been compressed during the initial forward movement of the bars 11, will act to cause the bars to move further forward and at the moment that the welded action has been completed the lugs 29 on the bars 11, will engage and act on the arms 26 which in turn will move the arm 24 so as to release the switch arms 20 and the spring pressed rods 23 will move said switch arms 20 so as to break the circuit between the parts 23, 20 and 22 and stop the flow of current thru the circuit L1 to the transformers and immediately following this action the cams 36 move to a position to act on the arms 34 to'break the contacts between the members 33, 31 and 32 and such cycle of operations continues so long as it is desired to weld. Immediately following the breaking. of the contacts 33, 31 and 32 the bars 11 are retracted and their lugs 29 engage with the operating arms 27 to return the controlling parts in association with the switch arms '20, and such switch arms, to the position shown in Fig. 1.

The pull out drum or'clamp 1 rotates in timed .relation with the welding mechanism,

whereby to advance the. longitudinal wires a for the proper positioning of the cross-wires b for welding the same to the wires a. The fabric is advanced between the shafts 49, 49 whereby to permit the cutters 48, 48 to sever the projecting ends 0 from the cross-wires b and such finished and trimmed fabric may be rolled in rolls or cut oif in flats, as the use to which the fabric is to be put,.may demand.

What I claim is 1. The herein described method of making fabrics for reinforcing, which resides in securing a series of cross wires to a series of longitudinal wires at points spaced inwardly from the ends of the cross wires and with the'ends of the cross wires projecting beyond the marginal longitudinal wires, and then as a single step positively guidin the longitudinal wires and simultaneously y and during such guiding severing the projecting ends of the cross wires to lie flush with the said marginal longitudinal wires. p

2. The herein described method of making welded fabrics for reinforcing, which resides in welding a series of cross wires to a series of longitudinal wires at points spaced inwardly from the ends of the cross wires and with the ends of the cross wires projecting beyond the mar inal longitudinal wires, and then as a sing e step positively guiding the longitudinal wires and simultaneously by and during such guiding severing the projecting ends of the cross wires to lie flush with the said marginal longitudinal wires.

3. The herein described method of making fabrics for reinforcing, which resides in moving longitudinal wires and intermittently feeding thereto cross wires with the ends of the cross wires projecting outwardly beyond the marginal longitudinal wires, then in connecting the cross wires to the longitudinal wires atpoints spaced inwardly from the said projecting ends of the cross wires, and then ,as a single step positively guiding the longitudinal wires and simultaneously by and during such guiding severing the projecting ends of the cross wires to lie flush with the marginal longitudinal wires in a continuous operation. I

4. The herein described method of making welded fabric for reforcing, which resides in moving longitudinalvwires and intermittently feeding thereto cross wires with the ends of the cross wires projeetin outwardly beyond the marginal longitudina wires, then in welding the cross wires to the longitudinal wires at points spaced inwardly from the said projecting ends of the cross wires, and then as a single step positively guidin the longitudinal wires and simu taneously y and during such guiding severing the projecting ends of the cross wires to lie flush with the marginal longitudinal wires in a continuous operation. Y

. WILLIAM H. 89MB. 

